Japanese Myths & Legends

Jun’ichi Isomae (introduction) is Professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan. He specializes in Religious Studies and Critical Theory, including the concept of the divine. His books include Japanese Mythology: Hermeneutics on Scripture (2010) and Religious Discourse in Modern Japan: Religion, State, and Shintō (2014). Hiroshi Araki (introduction) is a Professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan. His books include Konjaku Monogatarishū: Tracing its Composition and Representation of the World Outside Japan (2021), Kojidan, Zoku, Kojidan (2005) and Projecting Classicism: The Futurology of Japanese Classics (2020). Gouranga Charan Pradhan (translator of the new introduction) is a Research Fellow at Nichibunken, Kyoto, where he researches the global circulation of Japanese classical literature and Japan’s cultural-intellectual interactions abroad with a focus on the late-nineteenth to the early-twentieth century. His first monograph Sekai Bungaku toshite no Hōjōki (in Japanese) is scheduled for a February 2022 launch.